02 04 The Girl in the Stalking Spaceship
by NewDrWhoFan
Summary: A bit of Rose's life while the Doctor went off to save Madame de Pompadour. Tired of jealous/abandoned Rose? Neither a Rienette-bashing fic, nor a Doctor/Reinette romance. Eventually some Doctor/Rose romance. Meant to be an in-character gap filler-inner.
1. Doctor to the Rescue

_Non Reinette-bashing, non Doctor/Reinette romance, eventually a bit of Doctor/Rose romance. Mostly, I hope it's a true-to-character, fill-in-the-gaps look at the end of the episode. . . ._

_Thanks to who-transcripts(dot)atspace(dot)com for the episode transcript., and to lyin' for pointing out, well, a fashion discrepancy ;)_

_Disclaimer: Surprise, surprise, I don't own Doctor Who. Nor do I get anything from writing these stories--except wonderful, constructive reviews! Wink, wink; nudge, nudge ;)_

* * *

Rose stood looking through the impervious time window at the chaos in the eighteenth century ballroom below. "I don't get it," she said. "How come they got in there?"

"They teleported," answered the Doctor, working feverishly to find a way through. "You saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short-range teleports will do the trick."

Rose felt sick inside, hearing the screams, remembering her promise to Reinette on the Doctor's behalf, her complete trust in him. There had to be something they could do. "Well, we'll go in the TARDIS," she suggested.

The Doctor dismissed the idea. "We can't use the TARDIS; we're part of events now!" Right, thought Rose. Crossing timelines? Bad.

Mickey spoke up. "Well, can't we just smash through it?"

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other," said the Doctor. "We'd need a truck."

"We don't have a truck," Mickey replied.

"I know we don't have a truck!" yelled the Doctor, exasperated.

"Well, we've gotta try something!" said Rose. The droids had been on the other side for too long now. There was no telling what they were doing to Reinette.

"No, smash the glass, smash the time window," realized the Doctor. "There'd be no way back." He turned to look at the time window, and Rose followed his gaze.

Rose watched through the window as Reinette was brought into the ballroom and tried to take command of the situation. "Could everyone just calm down, please," she heard her say. All of the droids were there, and it didn't look like she had much time.

Rose turned to the Doctor, eerily reminded of the same man with a different face, looking at her across a cabinet room table. With all the calm and confidence she could muster, she asked, "So what're ya waitin' for? Do it," she said.

"Do what?" asked Mickey.

The Doctor didn't say anything for a moment, only looked hard at Rose.

"You promised," prompted Rose. "The Doctor's gotta keep his promises, yeah?"

Before the Doctor could reply, Arthur the horse came trotting into the room. "Oh, good boy!" said the Doctor, his face lighting up. He raced over to the animal and stroked his muzzle. "I'll bet you could tackle a bit of hyperplex, couldn't you boy?"

"What, throw the horse at the window?" asked Mickey.

"Or, _ride_ the horse _through_ the window," said the Doctor, mounting Arthur without looking at either of his companions.

"But you just said there'd be no way back!" shouted Mickey as the Doctor turned Arthur to line him up for the charge.

Ignoring Mickey, the Doctor looked at Rose. He opened his mouth but seemed to change his mind about what he wanted to say. "Emergency Prog—"

But she cut him off, saying, "We'll be here."

Mickey looked almost ready to stand in the Doctor's path, but Rose grabbed his arm and he backed away wisely as the Doctor kicked his mount into a gallop.

Rose watched as if in a dream as the horse's hooves smashed through the time window. For an instant, she could see the ballroom below, with Reinette on her knees surrounded by droids, and the Doctor astride Arthur suspended in the air above them. But the image winked out before the shards of hyperplex even began to hit the ship's deck. As the Doctor vanished, despite her faith and confidence in him, she felt a lump in her throat and tears began to form in her eyes.

"What happened?" asked Mickey. "Where did the time window go? How's he gonna get back?"

Rose forced herself to think things through. After a few moments' reflection, she said to Mickey, "We'll check the other windows. It might just be this one that's broken, right?"

As they walked through the ship, Rose's spirits sank lower and lower with every destroyed time window they passed. She had thought that one of them might lead to a point in Reinette's future after the Doctor had crossed over, but each portal they found was either torn, shattered, or simply blank. After searching every deck of the ship they finally made their way back to where the TARDIS was parked.

Mickey began to pace angrily, looking between the TARDIS and the broken window. "We can't fly the TARDIS without him. How's he gonna get back?" he shouted in desperation.

Rose stared out of the ship's porthole at the stars beyond, and sighed. "We're not stranded, Mickey," she said at last.

"What, you tellin' me you can fly us home?" he asked incredulously. "I thought you said it was, like, forbidden to pry it open like last time."

"We can't do that," she said. "But he'll be back." She tried to make the words convincing, both for Mickey and herself.

"How?"

"I dunno," she admitted.

Mickey threw his arms up and muttered something indecipherable with his back to her.

"I dunno how he'll do it," said Rose more forcefully, standing in front of the broken window, "but he will." Mickey looked ready to scream, but she continued, "And the TARDIS can take us home if she has to. There's an emergency program."

"Yeah? Well, let's use it, then," said Mickey, taking her hand and moving to pull her towards the TARDIS.

"We can't," said Rose, slipping her hand from his. "Not yet."

"How long're we gonna wait?" he asked.

"As long as we can," answered Rose. "You can wait in the TARDIS if you want," she said, turning back to the window. "I'll be here." Rose slid down to the floor, leaning against the control panel to find a more comfortable position for her vigil.

"Right," said Mickey, heading back into the ship. "I'll be in my room. Call me when you're done starin' at the wall."

Rose listened to Mickey's retreating footsteps as he crossed the TARDIS' metal grating. Soon, all was again silent, save the background noise of the ship's warp engines. She almost followed him, wanting to wait in the familiar surroundings of the TARDIS, but she stayed put, keeping as much distance as she could between herself and the switch that would send them back home--as if she'd ever be at home again anywhere outside of the TARDIS.

Rose took deep, calming breaths, refusing to despair. The Doctor was resourceful. He wasn't the only person who could travel through time, there were Time Agents, like Jack, right? He could find one of them. Or, maybe he could get a ride from himself. He'd mentioned it before, running into a past or future regeneration. He was always visiting earth, so he was bound to be relatively close to another incarnation's visit. The past Doctor would just need to wipe the memories. Or maybe he could fix the time windows from his side. Not all of them had fallen apart like the mirror. Maybe they were just temporarily disconnected.

How long could they wait here? The TARDIS could provide for them, assuming being cut off from the Doctor didn't have any ill effects like after his regeneration. So, it would come down to as long as Mickey could stand it. The Doctor wouldn't expect them to stay here indefinitely. If he did find a ride through time and space, he'd look for them at the Powell Estates, maybe even before he came back here.

But if he didn't find any help, and if he did still manage to get back here through the time windows, what then? If she let Mickey use Emergency Program One, the Doctor'd come back to an abandoned spaceship three thousand years in Rose's future. Would he try to open up time portals to London 2007 rather than 1700's Versailles? She laughed as she imagined the Doctor stepping out of her bedroom closet when she was seven. Or popping out of a dumpster at sixteen. "Oh, sorry Rose, you're not quite the Rose I was looking for." Better not to find out. She'd wait here as long as she could, here with his TARDIS, no matter how grumpy Mickey got.

Of course, thinking about the time windows led to the question, why Reinette, anyway? What made repair droids on a fifty-first century spaceship think they had to get a hold of the thirty-seven-year-old brain of Madame de Pompadour? That was the craziest thing. Granted, she was brilliant. If Rose had thought she had the market cornered on primitive humans taking the Doctor's world in stride, she knew better now. "But you and I both know, don't we, Rose? The Doctor is worth the monsters." Rose knew. Madame de Pompadour knew. Sarah Jane Smith, Cleopatra--

No. She wasn't going down this path. So, he'd met people in his travels, some of whom became his companions. He'd had a long life, he was entitled. But where were the others? No sign of Cleopatra. Sarah Jane had stayed behind--willingly this time. Reinette wasn't going anywhere; she had her place in history to fulfill. Rose was the one traveling with him now. She was the one who'd come back to him after he'd sent her away to safety.

She remembered their conversation of only a couple of days ago. "You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?" she'd asked, more hurt that she wanted to admit.

"No. Not to you," he'd said.

She _was_ special to him. And whether he'd invited Mickey along for her sake or out of some attempt to distance himself from her, she'd show him. He _would_ find his way back to her, and she'd never ever leave him.

Rose heard Mickey's footsteps returning. "Rose," he practically whined. "It's been almost an hour."

She didn't answer, except to lie down with her hands behind her head, and one leg crossed over the other.

As he stalked away, Rose closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

* * *

_To be continued._


	2. Inviting Madame de Pompadour

"Rose? Rose! Mickey!"

The Doctor! He was back! Rose opened her eyes, realizing that she must have dozed off. "We're here, Doctor!" she yelled, clambering to her feet. Glancing at her wristwatch, she saw she'd actually slept for over four hours. She watched him spin in place in front of the TARDIS, then charge around the control panel with a grin on his face. "So, ya did it, yeah? She's alright?" she asked.

The Doctor was practically skipping as he crossed the room. "Oh, more than alright, Rose. She's coming with us!"

Before Rose could utter more than a surprised "How?" at that piece of information, she was enveloped in a perfectly stupendous, crushing hug by the Doctor.

Releasing her, the Doctor still held her at arms' length and gave her an even bigger smile. "Hello," he said simply.

"Hi," Rose replied, still grinning, but still curious, too. "How's she coming with us? Historical figure an' all that?" she asked.

"Well, just one quick trip, someplace safe, then nip right back and she picks up where she left off, no harm done," he answered. Suddenly, he swept her up into yet another hug, spinning her around for good measure. "Oh, Rose, Rose, Rose!" he said into her hair. Miss me? she thought. She heard Mickey join them, apparently roused by their bit of shouting. "How long did you wait?" the Doctor asked as he set her down.

"Five and a half hours!" Rose answered, catching her breath, a bit giddy at having him suddenly back, and burning with curiosity as to how he managed to _get_ back.

"Right," said the Doctor, still smiling contagiously, "always wait five and a half hours!" Rose watched in amusement as the Doctor nearly hugged Mickey, too, but settled on a handshake.

"Where have you been?" Rose asked, but the Doctor was in too much of a rush.

"Explain later. Into the TARDIS; be with you in a sec." And with that, he was off, running back to the fireplace and spinning the wall around back into Reinette's world.

Mickey turned back to the TARDIS with only a shake of his head, but Rose stood still, watching as the Doctor disappeared. Five and a half hours? Where had he been? What happened? She's coming with us? Well, one encouraging thought: the Doctor seemed happier to see Rose than to have the TARDIS back.

Rose eventually followed Mickey, still flooded with relief that the Doctor was no longer stranded. She smiled as the thrum of the TARDIS welcomed her back aboard. Mickey looked up from where he'd been fiddling with the various bits on the console. "So what's he up to? How come we're not leaving, now he's back?" he asked.

"I think he's gone back for Reinette," she answered. "He said she's coming with us."

"Oh-ho! Mad-ame de Pom-pa-dour!" said Mickey with a clap. "What did I tell ya?"

The teasing, gloating tone was back with a vengeance, but Rose refused to be goaded. "Oh, shut up. She deserves it, after what she's been through." Rose maneuvered around him to sit in the captain's chair, glad to hear her voice hadn't sounded defensive.

"Right, well I'm gonna go finish my game, then, while we're waitin'," said Mickey, turning towards the corridor. "Lemme know when the lovebirds get back," he called, ducking around the doorframe.

Five and a half hours. Rose wondered how long it had been for the Doctor. When he'd gone through the fireplace the second time, he'd said that Reinette had aged years. Had he spent days, years in Versailles while she had slept? She wondered what Reinette would be like. No longer the little girl in the fireplace, nor even the thirty-two-year-old courtesan that she'd met. Intrigued, Rose stood up and flipped a few switches on the console, bringing up what looked like a web browser on the display-the Doctor'd said he'd installed it just for her. She typed in "Madame de Pompadour" and clicked through the results.

The first thing that caught her eye in the biography was the birth and death dates at the top of the page: 29 December 1721 - 15 April 1764. Forty-two. Only five years after the Doctor had gone to her rescue. No wonder he was in a rush to bring her with them.

As Rose continued her research, she looked for any tidbit of information which might reveal why Reinette had been targeted in the first place. As far as she could tell, she'd been a brilliant and influential figure, but there were no signs of her having been any kind of technological genius. Why would space-age droids think they needed her brain to be the computer's command circuit?

Rose was nearing the end of yet another article when she heard Mickey return. He walked up behind her, glancing over her shoulder to read the display. "Find any good dirt?" he asked.

Rose sighed. "I'm not looking for dirt, Mickey," she said.

"Really? 'Cause I thought you'd be looking for any little put-down you could find for little miss 'why settle for the King of France when I can swan off with a Time Lord?'"

Rose shut down the browser and turned towards him, leaning back on the console. "Y'know she'll be only forty-two when she dies?" she asked.

"Prob'ly syphilis," joked Mickey.

"'S not funny," Rose said, hitting his arm.

Mickey sobered. "She was thirty-seven when the droids went after her brain," he realized.

"Yeah," said Rose, nodding, "and if the fireplace has the same delay as when he went through before-"

"She could be dead by the time he gets there," finished Mickey.

They were silent for a few moments, then Rose said, "I was trying to find an explanation, for why they were goin' after her in the first place."

"Find anythin'?" asked Mickey, genuinely interested.

"Not a clue," said Rose. "Maybe the Doctor'll find out."

As if on cue, the TARDIS doors opened, and a significantly subdued Doctor entered alone.

Rose pushed off the console, and stood next to Mickey. It would seem he'd been too late after all, if his demeanor was anything to go by. As the Doctor approached the console, she asked, "Why her? Why did they think they could fix the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?"

"We'll probably never know," he answered, his voice deliberately casual. "There was massive damage in the computer memory base. Probably got confused." Rose watched him move to the console, keeping his eyes fixed on the controls. "The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble," he said.

Rose didn't have the heart to ask where Reinette was. It was written on his face, however much he tried to hide it: humans decay. You wither and you die. "Are you all right?" she asked weakly.

He looked up, and with a brief smile, lied, "I'm always all right."

As the Doctor turned back to fiddling with the controls, Rose felt Mickey take her arm. "Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place," he said, guiding her out of the console room.

It was clear that the Doctor didn't want to talk about it right now, and that Mickey was more than fine with that. With a brief glance back at the Doctor, Rose let herself be led away.

* * *

_To be continued. . ._


	3. Two's Company, Three's, Well,

"I think I should talk to him," said Rose, as Mickey led her down the corridor, away from the console room.

"What're you gonna say? It's pretty obvious he didn't wanna go into it," Mickey countered. He opened the door of the next room they came to and Rose heard him gasp in astonishment.

"Conservatory," she said simply. Mickey moved to go in, pulling Rose behind him, but she refused to budge from the corridor. Mickey closed the door and continued deeper into the ship instead. "I just don't think he should have to deal with this alone," Rose went on, as if without interruption. "Lounge," she added, before Mickey could even open the next door.

"You're not makin' this any fun, y'know?" he said, dropping her hand to cross his arms over his chest. Rose raised her eyebrow, crossing her arms to mirror his pose. Her stubbornness seemed to pay off at last as Mickey sighed and lowered his arms to his sides. "'Kay, so what makes you think he wants to talk?" he asked.

"I don't think he _wants_ to, just that he _needs_ to," said Rose. It was Mickey's turn to raise a skeptical eyebrow, but Rose persisted. "You didn't hear some of the things he said, back with Sarah Jane. He--" her confidence wavered, but seeing she had Mickey's attention, she continued. "He was goin' on about humans withering away and dying, basically wasting their lives with him."

Mickey looked again at the door by which they stood. "Lounge, right?" he asked. Rose nodded. "Right," he said, taking her hand again as he opened the door and led her inside. She followed him to a sofa and sat down next to him. "So, what," Mickey prompted, "you think he's blaming himself that she died?"

Rose was grateful that Mickey was actually willing to talk instead of ignoring things. "Yeah, sort of," she said. "But more I think, maybe, he's talking himself into not getting attached." She wasn't sure how to put this without being brutally honest, so she said just what was on her mind, hoping Mickey'd understand. "To me." Mickey just nodded, so she went on. "I mean, no offense, I'm glad you're here an' all, but I think the Doctor might'a been half hoping we'd get reacquainted and I'd end up wanting to go home with you. Not right away, but eventually, just so that he wouldn't be breaking his promise not to leave me."

To Rose's relief, Mickey smiled. "And this is the same bloke that was complainin' about makin' the TARDIS domestic. I think he's been watchin' some of Jackie's soaps." Rose laughed at that. "Didn't he know I already had a girlfriend?" Mickey asked, with a mixture of expressions on his face that Rose couldn't quite decipher.

"I dunno if I ever told him 'bout Trisha, to be honest," she said.

"'S okay, we broke up anyway."

Rose blinked, surprised he hadn't mentioned it before. Of course, she hadn't asked. But—he's not hoping that we've still got a chance, is he? "I'm sorry," was all she said aloud.

"Not your fault," said Mickey. "She thought I was spendin' too much time online, looking for alien conspiracies. That and I couldn't stand her," he admitted.

Both he and Rose laughed at this. "Told ya," Rose teased, having told him that very thing when Mickey'd first said they were seeing each other.

He continued, "I guess the last straw for her was when I rang you to bring the Doctor in. She was out the door before I was off the phone. Worked out for me, though; no loose ends to tie up before comin' along with you."

There it was again, the nagging worry that Mickey did want them to be a couple again. "Mickey," she began.

He cut her off. "I'm not tryin' to start things up again between us," he said to her relief. "I haven't got a chance. I don't know if he's blind or just stupid, but why can't the Doctor see how much you love him?" Rose felt like she should say something, but Mickey ploughed on, not seeming to want to be interrupted now that he was getting things off his chest. "I've seen it almost from day one, and I didn't even wanna believe it. The way you can only think about him, the way you even act like him." Rose was more and more surprised as he went on, but let him finish his speech. "I know I'm no competition, Rose, and y'know what? I'm not tryin' to be. Not anymore. I'll always love you as a best mate, you know that. But all this out here, the aliens, that spaceship, this crazy ship--"

"Hey," she said in the TARDIS' defense, slapping his arm, trying to ease the tension.

"This amazing ship, I mean," he corrected with a smile. Then, more seriously, "I think I'm meant for somethin' a little more down to earth."

Rose was a little bit stunned, to say the least. Somehow she'd managed to pigeonhole him as the stick-in-the-mud boyfriend she'd left behind, but this, this was something new. Just as Rose had found the answer to her dreams in travelling with the Doctor, she realized that Mickey was waking up to his own future—and it didn't look like it was going to be with her. She was suddenly reluctant to let him go. "Well, it can take some getting used to, the whole travelling through time and space thing. And besides, like I told the Doctor, it's better with two." She realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Yeah," said Mickey, "but three's a crowd." Rose tried to correct herself, but Mickey preempted her with a self-deprecating wink. "Don't worry about it, Rose. I'm no match for him and I never will be."

Nothing she could say to that. Mickey gave her hand a squeeze as he got off the couch and helped her to stand. But before he could lead her out of the lounge, Rose tugged him back around to face her. Since they were being honest, she might as well do a little more confiding, she thought. "Thing is, Mickey, I'm not really sure that's what he wants. I mean, yeah, we have fun an' all, but he's never—like you were sayin', Sarah Jane, Cleopatra, Reinette, I dunno if he even thinks of me as anythin' more than just another, close friend." She tried to convince herself that her eyes were not tearing up as Mickey pulled her into a hug.

"First of all, I'm sorry I said all that earlier, if that's what's botherin' you." Rose tried to shake her head in the crook of his neck. "I was only teasin', and maybe a bit jealous of you two since I _had _just been dumped." He moved his hands to her shoulders and held her in front of him. "But if ya don't know how he looks at you, then he's not the only blind one. I don't think he even realizes I'm in the same room when you're there." Rose couldn't help but smile. "So, why don't ya go talk some sense into mister gloomy alien; I'll be by in a few minutes." He looked down at his t-shirt. "It's kinda colder in here than it was on that spaceship," he said. "I think I'm gonna change."

Rose nodded, as Mickey dropped his arms. "Yeah," she said, swiping at her eyes, "think that's for the Doctor. Ya get used to it, after a while, but I think I'm gonna change, too. Think ya can find your way back to your room from here?"

"Yeah, no problem," he told her.

She took his hand again, and leaned in and kissed his cheek. With a whispered, "Thanks, Mickey," she left him there.

Rose found the Doctor by his Converses sticking out from under the console. She was surprised not to hear any of the distinctive noises usually associated with his "tinkering", but when she bent down to take a peek, she saw that he wasn't working, he was just lying there, staring blankly at the underside of the console. Without a word, she crawled into the narrow space beside him.

"Rose!" said the Doctor, immediately snatching up the sonic screwdriver, pretending to be analyzing the cables and circuits above him. "I was just, er, um," he stammered.

"Yeah, I can see that," said Rose with a smile as she nudged him to scoot over. She propped herself up on her elbow to his right side. The space was extremely cramped, but considering the Doctor was actually _hiding_, she figured it's probably good to have him cornered for this conversation. "So, spill," she said, waiting for him to meet her eyes.

"Spill what?" he asked, still pretending to tweak the TARDIS.

"Reinette."

The Doctor dropped his arm with a sigh, and looked over at Rose. After a long moment, he said, "She died. Waiting for me."

Rose knew that this was likely, but the sadness and guilt with which he said "waiting for me" brought tears to her eyes. She reached out her right hand to rest on his chest. "I'm sorry," she said. The Doctor pocketed the screwdriver, maneuvering his right arm between them then behind his head. She was glad he wasn't trying to run.

"You were right, Rose," he said, not meeting her eyes. "I just leave people behind. I leave them, and they waste the rest of their lives. . . waiting for me."

"She didn't _waste_ her life," she told him forcefully. She'd read the bio. "Reinette did some extraordinary things in her last years. And, by the way, Sarah Jane wasn't just pining for you either." The Doctor looked at her, startled, but she knew what this was all about. "She was an investigative reporter. She probably could've dealt with the Krillitanes herself, whether you'd shown up or not."

The Doctor was silent for a moment, and Rose wondered whether she'd gotten through to him. But then he told her, "Rose, she said--Sarah Jane--she said she wasn't going to marry. Because of me. 'Tough act to follow,' she said. And Reinette. Said she'd known me her entire life; called me her 'love'." Rose watched as he brought his left hand up to cover the one she still had resting on his chest. "I'm not worth--" he says, looking into her eyes. "It's not safe for . . . _people_ to love me."

She wanted to be angry with him for thinking he could control other people's feelings, or that he always knows what's best. But the hurt in his voice and the unshed tears in his eyes forestalled any outburst. It was obvious he was trying to tell _her_ not to love him, by talking about his past companions—or would-be companion. She chewed her lip, thinking. She decided to play his game, and speak for the others but mean herself. "I'll bet you anything they never regretted meeting you." She pressed on despite the fact that he looked like he wanted to contradict her. "You took Sarah Jane places she never could have imagined. You gave Reinette hope—you saved her life! How could they help but love you." Sarah Jane's words came back to her. "Besides," she told him, moving her hand from his chest to the side of his face, "some things are worth getting your hearts broken for."

Rose didn't know what had possessed her to change the phrasing to "hearts", when up until that point she really had been speaking for herself, but it seemed to have an effect on him at last. She held his gaze and was startled when he brought his hand up to her face. He brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers, wiping away a tear with his thumb. Her breath hitched slightly as his fingers combed gently through her hair, then cupped the back of her head. "Rose," he whispered, trying but not finding anything else to say. She smiled sadly at him, enjoying their closeness but wondering if she'd really convinced him. To her pleasant surprise, he slowly pulled her closer to him as he raised his head from the deck. Unconsciously, Rose slid her hand around to the back of his neck, half supporting his head, and half bringing herself nearer. She could feel his breath on her lips as her eyelids flickered shut.

"Hey Rose? Doctor?"

At Mickey's incredibly poorly-timed arrival, Rose's eyes shot open. The Doctor murmured a "Wha--" then, "Ow!" as his head unceremoniously fell back and collided with the deck grating. Rose bit her lip in a silent apology, but the Doctor waved her hand away when she tried to reach back and check the damage. Instead, Rose backed her way out from under the console (and practically on top of the Doctor) and stood up, spotting Mickey at the door to the console room.

Rose smoothed her jacket and tucked her hair behind her ear, feeling the blush rise in her cheeks at Mickey's smirk. She then felt herself turn beet red when Mickey laughed out loud as the Doctor stood up next to her, holding the back of his head. As Mickey regained his composure, Rose was pleased to see that the Doctor was also a bit flushed and stammering to make an excuse for their predicament. "We were, that is, I was, and Rose was helping, the TARDIS needed re-calibrating, and--"

Seeing the Doctor acting like a teenager caught by his girlfriend's parents made even Rose crack up. She heard him feebly demanding some respect, but catching Mickey's eye sent her into a full-on laughing fit. Oh, she was going to miss Mickey whenever he decided to leave, but considering the past few minutes' developments, she might not mind a lack of interruptions.

"I really do have some work to do, so you two can either lend a hand, or take your amusement elsewhere," the Doctor said with as much authority as he could manage—which wasn't much while he was still massaging the goose egg forming on the back of his scalp. He moved around to the display and flipped a few switches as Rose and Mickey calmed down.

"Sure, Doctor," said Mickey, trying to see what the Doctor was reading on the scanner, but still with an I-bet-I-know-what-you-were-doing smile on his face. "Whaddya need us to do?"

"Well, Rose, if you could throw that lever over there," he gestured with his chin to his left, "and Mickey," Rose moved to where the Doctor had pointed, watching as he looked over the various controls until something caught his eye and he grinned. "Mickey, hold that button down," he said, signaling to his right.

"What, this one?" said Mickey, walking around the console and finding the indicated spot.

"That one," confirmed the Doctor. "Press and hold. And don't let go until I tell you!"

* * *

_The end!_

_This, of course, leads into "Rise of the Cybermen", the beginning of which you really should watch if you're unaware of the significance of Mickey's button pushing :)_


End file.
